Freshly Made Sketches #712

Verena has a wonderful sketch and fabulous inspiration for us at Freshly Made Sketches #712... here is her sketch - but you'll have to stop by our challenge blog to see her darling card!

As I see all the goodness for Christmas being posted by my friends, I'm reminded of a few of my 'regulars' that I didn't make an appearance this year.  

For instance - my mittens!!

Verena's sketch presented the perfect time for them...

These oldie-but-goodie dies aren't available any longer but are well loved.  From Winnie & Walter: Noel and Ellen Hutson's Pop-Up Mittens.  

I cut Verena's left side border panel from a deep navy card stock and popped my white NOEL up on dimensional foam.  The bright red mittens were cut from EH felt and I used white

yarn to embellish them and to tie a band around the panel that was debossed with Waffle Flower Crafts' Dashed Snowflake cover die.  A few

white snowflakes and my work playtime was complete! 

You have until Monday, November 17th at 3 pm EST to play along - plenty of time to make seconds if you have a mind to!  Okay - off you go to see all the inspiration one could ask for from the FMS team!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #763 Color Challenge

The Paper Players color challenge #763 is a beauty from Jan!  

Perfect for Autumn or for giving someone the bird!  Oh, not that bird - this one, from Birch Press, that was sent to me for my birthday!  Thank you, sweet friend!

This lovely SB Sun Ray embossing folder was included, too, and I found a way to show my Crane making a splash by embossing my panel of Old Olive, then trimming the panel to position the circle in the lower area.

Okay, I know the trimming doesn't exactly match up at the top, but I still like it!

It took some finagling to get all the bits and pieces cut from Jan's colors

but in the end, I love the result and hope Jan does, too! I cleared the use of

kraft before cutting these SB cattails and pond-side flora.  Another of those favored Betterpress sentiments and all that was left was to photograph it!  Kinda dreary today - sorry about that.

We've had an inch or two of that four-letter-word - not unusual to see the first dusting around my birthday.  Let's face it - I don't have to go out in it, and

Tom drives my AWD when it's slippery, so it isn't a big deal.  As long as it

melts before Thanksgiving when I expect company.

My bird and I would like to celebrate another special day:

Congratulations to my friends at JUGS on their 800th Challenge!!

I've been busy completing the sentiments and signing all those cards

for my Senior recipients - see you again soon!

=] Michele

Color Throwdown #844

Amy at Color Throwdown features a photo that had me laughing out loud, alright...

While I was on the road, my longtime friend Neda celebrated her birthday.  Normally, I make it a Halloween themed card - it does fall on the 31st after all.

But this turkey had me reaching for a bird of a different color!

I pulled out a few retired Ellen Hutson sets for the sentiments -

Julie Ebersole always knew how to make me smile!

I dare you to look at this old bird and NOT see a string of pearls! lol

Only the HoneyBee Lovely Layers: Quail and 

Spellbinders Four Petal dies are still available!

Thanks, for the turkey, and fun colors, Amy!

=] Michele

Color Hues #121

I love the cozy colors of Fall - and the Color Hues challenge has two 'must have' colors for the season... I stretched them into Christmas, Sheri!

 

I may be all set for Christmas 2025, but there's always next year, right?  It's never too early to get them started.

Even in the closeup it's hard to tell, but I promise you that my stocking

is indeed brown - in fact it's cut from Altenew's brown woodgrain paper!

The cuff and leaves were cut from watercolor paper and painted with

Distress reinkers.  My sentiment is from PTI's 'Tis the Season and stamped 

in CP's Icing on the Cake.

I adore this Penny Black Stocking Stuffer die set!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #711 - Kim

I'm baaack!  Tom and I had a wonderful 8-day road trip complete with lots of Autumn color, a dream come true in nature, and one more that we never expected!  

But first, I hadn't had the first load of laundry in the dryer before I got started on making my FMS card using Kim's fantastic sketch this week... 

When reaching for patterned paper, I'm sure you'll agree that lots of time

is consumed choosing patterns that work together - am I right?  Well one of the wonderful friends I visited along the route made quick work of that for me today - I 'upcycled' a bit of the gift bag Birgit blessed me with on Friday morning - our last stop in Maine! Thanks for the gift AND the idea, my friend!

This sweet little piece with fun flora and fauna was the bag topper and the

pretty plaid was just one of a full pad of papers for Memory Box.  

I only wish I'd have thought to make a few acorns like those green ones in the paper...

These acorns are from Altenew and look pretty cute tied up with

a SU linen bow IMHO!

My sentiment is from PTI's Thankful for Fall set.

This one's already in the mail, and I can't wait to see what those talented

DT friends of mine will share over at the Freshly Made Sketches blog!

We hope you all will have fun with this one, too!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #799

It's time to CASE a designer over at Just us Girls!  I seldom play in this one because I really love all of the designers on their team - hard to pick just one!  But when I saw Lisa's darling card, I remembered that I had a certain bear that hadn't played cards yet this Christmas season!

Here's Lisa's creation:

and here is my CASE:

• I kept the scallops but used my favorite grey instead of blue.
• I left off the debossing - however, it does have Lisa's favorite polka dots!  
• I gave the big guy a sweater and a cap instead of a scarf - recreating the pattern of Lisa's scarf on the sweater and nudged him into the center of that space.
• I only added three snowflakes but gave them a dusting of Stickles - much prettier IRL I promise
• Added a sentiment from this Sweet Pea set and stamped it on a die-cut quote bubble.  The Christmas message will be on the inside of this card.

Can you see it?  I sure hope so!!  I'd better get this one delivered before it's too late!  Thanks, Lisa - my 2025 Christmas card season is now complete!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge #108 - Thanks!

In the USA we celebrate Thanksgiving in November so it is wonderful to have Thanks as our prompt for The Flower Challenge #108!

I'll share my closeup first so you can see the Altenew Ways to say Thank You embossing in the background - it also provided my sentiment!

I adore this sweet HoneyBee Coneflower - one of many in their Lovely Layers

collection of stand-alone die sets to love!

It certainly is lovely enough to deserve a frame - this one from 

Waffle Flower's Nesting Rectangle Frames.

In case you're wondering, my pieces were cut from colored cardstocks

and their color was pumped-up a bit with ink and a sponge dauber.

I am happy to join you in seeing all the wonderful cards of Thanks

from my teammates HERE.

Thanks for stopping by - and in advance for playing along!

=] Michele